<p>Sorry, but I skipped to the end, so this may have been covered. </p>
<p>There is no such thing as a non-political school. Most college campuses in the US are heavily liberal and will bombard your student with that ethos througout their time. Some majors more than others and some schools more than others.</p>
<p>The only other option is to find one of the few heavily conservative schools, but that is political as well.</p>
<p>Activist students at colleges that are not political probably burn their voter registration cards at rallies.</p>
<p>,Xiggy, you’re making a whole lot of assumptions in this discussion. Erroneous ones, at that. </p>
<p>Considering that so many college students can’t even be bothered to vote, I think this whole concern is extremely overblown. If the OP were worried about her daughter coming to physical/emotional harm as in the example she cited, the OP should consider that her daughter is thousands of times more likely to be raped at college than to be brainwashed into quitting school and taking up a gun in some resistance movement. </p>
<p>When your STEM kids’s REU falls through because funding is locked up they may find themselves getting suddenly political ;)</p>
<p>I went to a highly-conservative university (one in Texas) and quickly became involved in what little liberal activism there was there. (And, I graduated in 4 years and have been gainfully employed ever since.) So, I’d encourage the OP to choose a highly-conservative college for her child. :)>- </p>
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<p>Care to point the “whole lot” of assumptions and how they are erroneous? </p>
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<p>Is there a broken metaphor in there? How is viewing today’s political activism in the United States as part of a silly circus a … quixotic quest? </p>
<p>Are you conflating the opinion of political activism at colleges and … selecting a college to attend. Again, read my first post on this thread to see why it should NOT be an issue of major concern. </p>
<p>That, however, does not change much about what one’s right to THINK of the silly circus that is so often on display on our campus, including the last iteration of the moronic OWS with entitled kiddos protesting issues they could not explain in a reasonably cogent argument! Very little to do with the social movements of the sixties! </p>
<p>“Care to point the “whole lot” of assumptions and how they are erroneous?”
Just about every other word in your post 53, 54 and 59 and much of 60. </p>
<p>I find it ironic that you’re lecturing Cobrat on graciousness when people disagree with him. Are you a good example of this? Not per your language above. </p>
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<p>Yes, this is true. Quite a few medical research projects that I had friends working on here were put on hold because of recent political events. Seeing your funding go away has a way of making even politically apathetic people REALLY political, really quick. </p>
<p>OP, you do realize that a lot STEM funding comes from political sources, correct? I’d argue that many scientists have quite a vested interest in what is going on in state capitals and Washington because it can very well directly affect their paycheck. </p>
<p>I’m doing my graduate work at a university that is renowned for liberal political activism and yet the vast majority of undergrads (and grads) have zero interest in being involved in political campaigns and whatnot. They might talk about being involved, but when it comes down to it- most are simply apathetic. I think this is a completely overblown worry for the vast, vast majority of colleges and universities. It seems to be an opinion formed from media reports rather than actual experiences. </p>
<p>“I don’t want my kid to be emotionally manipulated by other people’s agendas.”</p>
<p>I just don’t think this is a meaningful risk except at the handful of colleges that make political activism a central part of their mission (Hampshire, Oberlin, Patrick Henry, etc.). These schools would not be right for the OP’s family. Even at schools that have a strong political leaning in the student body, but where activism isn’t central to the mission (Yale, SMU, Ole Miss), there’s a sizable population of students who don’t care. They might even constitute a silent majority.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters that professors pressuring students to get involved in activism is extremely rare. A professor who does campaign consulting work or whatever would probably be thrilled if a student expressed interest in getting involved. But pushing the student to show up outside of class duties is a whole different story. My sister was a Women’s Studies major at Brown, and THOSE professors didn’t care whether she was marching on Washington or not. There may be some courses in Contemporary Radicalism or whatever where there would be social pressure to march, but they exist at any big school, and a kid who’s choosing that sort of elective is already on the path.</p>
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<p>Katliamom, I’ll just assume (yes, here is an assumption) that if t was so hard to actually find a comment that qualified as an erroneous assumption that you decided to make references to all my posts in this thread. </p>
<p>Do you happen to think of yourself as being gracious with people with whom you disagree? Think your comment on online courses (that triggered the subsequent exchange) was gracious? Or remotely helpful to the OP? </p>
<p>Pot meet kettle! </p>
<p>Again, I ask: why is suggesting online courses - many of which are given by top universities - not gracious? Could it be that you are a bit of a snob on that count, Xiggy? And please note that it wasn’t the ONLY option I recommended for OP. In fact, I think I recommended a few. </p>
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<p>Whether gracious or not, online courses from one’s home is the closest thing which fulfill’s OP’s criterion of non-political schools as shown by the very title of this thread. </p>
<p>Not even colleges with a critical mass of older adults attending is a guarantee of non-political activist activity. </p>
<p>Some of the antiwar and/or OWS protestors I saw and conversed with on local college campuses were older non-traditionally aged undergrad students…including some military vets who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. </p>
<p>katliamom: Because it is crystal clear from the tenor of OP’s posts that she is not interested in an online college, simply at a college that doesn’t have an overtly political vibe. </p>
<p>That being said, OP, I agree that your concerns are overblown. Hanna’s post 70 sums it up well, I think: there are a certain number of schools well known for activist leanings, but outside of that, a STEM major - or a women’s studies major, for that matter – isn’t going to be at great risk of dropping out and joining a commune, or even dealing with a lot of proselytizing. I also think it is silly to treat political awareness as a distraction - it is GOOD if a thoughtful student decides to care about a particular cause. You have to just trust your kid to avoid becoming uber-radical in a dangerous way, which of course can happen anywhere</p>
<p>Also recall that most schools don’t have core requirements, so if your kid doesn’t want to take a class on a particularly controversial topic - or taught by a notoriously partisan professor – she can probably avoid it. </p>
<p>I think it might be more helpful to your daughter if the focus wasn’t so much on picking out a college that is not political (although, of course, colleges are not political–people are), but rather, helping your daughter to learn the critical thinking skills and to gain the confidence to make her own decisions. Help her learn to identify biases, to research topics before making up her mind, to accurately judge sources with a critical eye, to know what her resources are if she feels like she’s being pressured into something she doesn’t want to do, and to trust her own judgement. Keep an open relationship with her, so that she knows she can come to you if there are situations in her life that she would like a second opinion on.</p>
<p>You’ll never be able to find a college where no one has any political affiliations (although, your daughter can try to avoid professors that frequently bring their own biases and agendas into the classroom, and as a STEM major that shouldn’t be too extraordinarily difficult). At some point, your daughter is going to have to learn to think for herself, and if you’re comfortable enough to let her go away to college–where it’s much more likely for her to be swayed towards binge drinking and experimentation with drugs than joining a radical political organization–then I would hope your confident in her ability to make her own decisions. I get that your worried for, but I think what you’re asking for is unrealistic.</p>
<p>The only thing I could recommend is encouraging her to go to a bigger school. You’re much more likely to have students of all different mindsets there, and it may be easier for her to find a group of like-minded students (as opposed to going to a small school, which may be more likely to have a general school “vibe” that she may or may not be a good fit for). She would also likely have more options for professors and could avoid the ones that have reputations for bringing their own personal agenda into the classroom. But at the end of the day, she’s going to have to make her own decisions about everything (partying, drinking, studying, majors, classes, friends, relationships, political affiliations), and you can’t send her to a college that would shelter her from everything. I really don’t think that this should be your major worry or even something that factors heavily into the decision-making process.</p>
<p><a href=“although,%20your%20daughter%20can%20try%20to%20avoid%20professors%20that%20frequently%20bring%20their%20own%20biases%20and%20agendas%20into%20the%20classroom,%20and%20as%20a%20STEM%20major%20that%20shouldn’t%20be%20too%20extraordinarily%20difficult”>quote</a>.
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<p>Not always. </p>
<p>A former supervisor who was an engineering major in the '70s had an electrical engineering class with a longtime Prof who spent practically the entire semester talking about his political platform/campaign to run for mayor in his upstate NY town. He and his classmates ended up having to teach themselves everything out of the book and multiple complaints to the dean went nowhere. </p>
<p>Also, many engineering/CS folks have recounted having issues with some engineering/CS Profs for political biases mostly from the libertarian-right. </p>
<p>I don’t think you will find any apolitical schools. These are young adults and wherever you go, some of them are going to be passionate about political rhetoric and/or the cause du jour.</p>
<p>Now, it’s not called activism or protesting or overbearing political ideology…it is called ‘engagement’. </p>
<p>Frankly, from what I see and hear and have experienced…find a place where there are a lot of people in lab coats…they do tend to be rather busy just keeping afloat. Then find a beautiful campus with great year round climate…preferably near a beach, close enough to the mountains for a wee weekend ski…and lawns for sunbathing…those students tend to carry a lot less existential angst.</p>
<p>“Where did I say anything about being “forced”? My HS classmate was enticed into it during his college experience.”</p>
<p>Well, you can’t “guarantee” that your daughter won’t be enticed into anything by anyone during her college years. She might take up with a redhead when you’d prefer her to date only brunettes, she might want to go play tennis when you’d prefer her to play squash instead, she might want to wear jeans when you’d prefer her to wear a dress.</p>